Articles From the Team

Celebrating Volunteers Week with the Booth Centre

At BCL Legal, we take our CSR seriously. We’re fortunate to work in an industry that while it’s hard work, it’s also profitable, and we want to give something back to the fantastic community in which we live.

Either as an organisation or at team level, we choose a registered charity each year to work alongside and support in a variety of ways, whether that’s by way of regular donations of much-needed items such as food, clothing or equipment; getting involved in organised fundraising events such as The Manchester Sleepout; organising our own fundraising activities or volunteering with the charity.

Over the course of the following year, we’re getting involved in the full range of activities with our chosen charity; not only as a helping hand but to get to know them, gaining an understanding of their mission and vision and what their biggest challenges are.

This year, we’ve chosen to support the Booth Centre in Manchester. There are a number of charities in the Manchester area that support adults with issues around homelessness, but we were drawn to the Booth Centre because of its specific approach, which sets it apart from some of the other support services in the city.

Their mission deviates from the ‘sticking plaster’ approach and aims to bring about positive change in the lives of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in the city: empowering them to help themselves with the appropriate support.

Whilst on the face of it, they’re a service offering free breakfasts and lunches and a variety of interesting activities, behind the scenes it’s a hub of activity: working with their service users on an individual basis to make the personal changes needed in order to positively move forward.

They’re a truly dedicated team, and this week (Volunteers Week) the third group of BCL-ers including our CEO, were privileged to spend the morning at the centre: helping out with breakfast and lunch, getting involved with the activities and chatting with, and getting to know, the individuals who visit the centre and the dedicated staff and volunteers who run it.

It was an inspiring and humbling few hours for us. There’s so much important hard work going on, but on the surface, they’ve managed to create a relaxed, welcoming, non-threatening environment, where there's chat and laughter and genuine friendships are made and developed.

It’s a truly special place and deserves as much support as possible. It’s an incredibly important resource for adults in Manchester who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, yet as with so many charities, they constantly struggle to find the funding to keep delivering these vital services and support. If only they didn't have to spend the time chasing funding they could focus on delivering their services instead and they could make even more of a difference!

We’re looking forward to working with them over the coming year and doing what we can, but if you’re Manchester-based and want to support this incredible organisation, you can find out more details here.

Me, I’m off to stock up on tea bags, coffee, biscuits and baked beans to send across in our next donation box because believe me, they get through A LOT of these every day and every donation helps.

Pictured below: (L-R) James Batt, Joanna Kasprzyk, Juliet Lawson, Amy McLaughlin, Nicola O'Hanlon, Holly Dickinson, Emma Fielding, Megan Burywood.